5 Most Decently Priced VR Ready Computers You Can Buy In 2018
A list of VR ready computers to give you a pleasant VR experience.
The year 2018 has become a treat for VR lovers. The reason being manufacturers and software developers making it possible for more and more devices to support and run VR technologies. We are now at a point were even laptops are capable of running VR apps.
Many do not know the requirements to run VR apps on their computers. This is a very common mistake as people generally think that all gaming PCs are capable of running VR apps. This is actually not true because VR needs a steady 90 FPS (Frames Per Second) rate or more to give you a pleasant VR experience. Anything less than that, you will experience motion sickness, thus making you feel nauseous or dizzy.
Therefore, your hardware needs to be on par with the requirement of VR. We will list out the bare minimum requirements mentioned by different VR companies, and you can check it with your available hardware. If not, then do not worry because we have got a list of computers which are VR ready out of the box!
Oculus Rift Recommended Requirements
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
Alternative Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater
CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
Memory: 8GB+ RAM
Video Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
USB Ports: 3x USB 3.0 ports, plus 1x USB 2.0 port
OS: Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer
Windows VR Recommended VR Specifications (2017)
Windows Mixed Reality Ultra PCs (graphics intensive)
Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 960/1050 (or greater) DX12-capable discrete GPU AMD RX 460/560 (or greater) DX12-capable discrete GPU
CPU: Intel Core i5 4590 (4th generation), quad-core (or better) AMD Ryzen 5 1400 3.4Ghz (desktop), quad-core (or better)
Expected Frame Rate: 90 fps
Memory: 8GB DDR3 (or better)
Video Output: HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2
USB Port: USB 3.0 Type-A or Type-C
OS: Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (RS3) – Home, Pro, Business, Education
HTC Vive Recommended Requirements
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce™ GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 480, equivalent or better
CPU: Intel™ Core™ i5-4590 or AMD FX™ 8350, equivalent or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM or more
Video Output: 1x HDMI 1.4 port, or DisplayPort 1.2 or newer
USB Ports: 1x USB 2.0 port or newer
OS: Windows 7 SP1 or later
Best VR Computers of 2018
If you are looking for the best computers that can run VR, then the following list gives you the best of 2018!
1. Alienware Aurora
For those who don’t know Alienware, they are the gaming-oriented brand under DELL. If you are looking for a prebuilt system that looks awesome and performs like a breast, then the Aurora range is perfect for you. You will know that they are serious about VR as the taglines go like “Alienware Aurora Desktops – Designed for VR.
When you are selecting a VR ready computer to buy, make sure that it is sporting at least NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card. You can choose either the i5 or i7 version of Intel’s 8th gen processors as both are capable of running VR apps.
For a budget-friendly approach, we would recommend Aurora running on the following set of hardware.
- Intel® Core™ i5 8400
- Windows 10 Home 64bit English
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5
- 16GB, 2666MHz, DDR4
- 1TB (64MB Cache) 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s
2. AVADirect Avatar VR Desktop
For some, the brash and aggressive look of the Aurora series and want something subtle and stealthy; then you can choose the AVADirect Avatar VR Desktop. These VR ready desktop computers sport the latest hardware without hogging up too much space. The small form factor of the PC really helps it to stand out.
The budget version includes the following hardware:
- Intel Core i5-8400 6-Core
- Evga GeForce GTX 1060 SC GAMING 6GB Graphics Card
- Kingston 8GB HyperX Fury 2666MHz DDR4 Memory
- Samsung 250GB 960 EVO 3200/1500 MB/s NVMe M.2 SSD
- Seagate BarraCuda 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch HDD
3. Falcon Northwest TIKI
The TIKI from falcon northwest is another VR ready computer that comes in compact form factor. The whole system is engineered to give the most power per cubic inch, or in simpler terms, space is utilized very efficiently to fit in more components. They even allow users to go for liquid cooled Intel i9 processors. But for VR, you can always go for their mid-range offerings, and the criteria are, NVIDIA GTX Geforce 1060 or better. The customization options are endless. The customization page of falcon north-west gives the user freedom to customize even the minutest of details.
Note: There is no singular spec sheet as it is customized right from the get-go!
4. Origin Chronos
Being gamers, they are very nitpicky when it comes to selecting parts for the computer. Therefore, many like a lot of freedom to customize their PC. Sadly, the options are limited when you are buying pre-built computers. That is not the case with Origin as they provide highly customizable VR ready Computers and you can do the customization form their website itself.
The Origin Chronos Is also a small form factor computer. The platform allows you to select between AMD or Intel processors. The case itself comes in different colors. The pc comes in the following specs;
- Intel i7-6700K (OC 4.6GHz)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 FE
- 16GB HyperX 2666MHz
- Windows 10 Home 64bit English
- 2TB Seagate Barracuda
- Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
5. The Razor Blade
Now some of you out there would love to have a laptop instead of on a desktop to experience VR. The light form factor of laptops makes it possible for the user to have work and play portable setup. The obvious choice that comes to mind when thinking about VR ready laptops is the Alienware laptop line.
But there is another player who is equally impressive – The Razor Stealth. Compared to Alienware, the Razor Blade is compact and more portable. You will be amazed to know that this laptop, which is only 0.66 inches thick, is running a GTX 1060 or 1070. Needless to say, it is one of the most good-looking laptops out there!
- 15.6″ Full HD, 1920 x 1080IPS, 144Hz100% sRGB, 16:9 aspect ratio
- 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8750H processor, 6 Cores/12 Threads
- 16GB RAM DDR4, 2667MHz
- 256GB PCIe SSD/ 512GB SSD/ 1 TB HDD
- GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB GDDR5 VRAM)
This concludes our list of the best computers you can use to run VR. All of our suggestions were made to undergo the steam VR test app test and returned a result “VR Ready.” These prebuilt computers are on the costly side, but choosing one will have you covered for the next 2-3 years easily.
